Whiplash is another term for sudden movement of the head, usually backwards and forwards, causing strains to the neck muscles.  This sudden movement, which on most occasions occurs unexpectantly, can be severe and longstanding, even though there is no disk pathology.  Unfortunately, these types of injuries do not show up on an x-ray since an x-ray reveals the condition of the bone or spine, not the surrounding muscles causing the pain.  As such, the insurance industry does not place much value to these types of injuries and in many instances will put up a huge fight (usually hiring a bio-mechanic to downplay the force of the impact) to seek jury sympathy by creating the aura that the injured party is merely "building up the claim for money he or she does not deserve".  Why some individuals have longstanding complaints, while others will heal after a period of a few month is a mystery to the medical community.  What must be made clear to any trier of fact is that every person is different and investigation must be had into the prior health conditions, age, gender, awareness of the impending impact, and whether a head restraint was properly positioned in the vehicle.  All these different factors, along with the treating physician finding some objective symptomology, such as spasm or lordosis, may help support a greater value than what originally meets the eye.